Advanced Ethics for Addiction Professionals 1st Edition
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Taleff, Michael J.
Advanced ethics for addiction professionals / Michael J. Taleff.
p. ; cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8261-2458-6 (alk. paper)
1. Drug abuse counselors—Professional ethics. I. Title.
[DNLM: 1. Behavior, Addictive—therapy. 2. Counseling—ethics.
3. Decision Making—ethics. WM 62 T143a 2010]
HV5275.T25 2010
174'.296860651—dc22 2009030555
Printed in the United States of America by Hamilton Printing.
For my children, Stephanie and Joseph.
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Contents
Preface xi
Acknowledgments xiii
PART I: THE FOUNDATION: A THINKING WAY
TO APPROACH ADDICTION ETHICS 1
1 INTRODUCTION TO ETHICAL THINKING 3
Judging 5
A Few Ground Rules 9
Positions, Stands, and Foundations 10
Gaining Ethical Perspective 12
The Least You Need to Know 15
2 BEYOND ORDINARY ETHICS: WHY AND HOW 17
Ethical Example: What Would You Decide? 20
The Full-Scale View: A Distinction Between
Ethics and Morality 21
The Full-Scale View: Big Ethical Questions 21
The Full-Scale View: Ethical Parameters 24
Taking a Stand 27
Critical Thinking Basics 28
Ethical Self-Exam 30
The Least You Need to Know 31
3 THE EMOTIONAL ASPECT OF ETHICAL THINKING 33
Your Brain and Moral Judgments 33
Biology and Moral Decision Making 34
Fair-Mindedness and Emotion 35
The Place of Emotion in Ethical Decision Making 36
The Moral Emotions 39
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viii Contents
Moral Pride 42
The Least You Need to Know 43
4 A FEW MORAL ISSUES TO GENERATE THOUGHT AND FEELING 45
Moral Issues 46
Common Ethical Dilemmas 47
More Challenging Ethical Dilemmas 48
The Least You Need to Know 50
PART II: ETHICAL THEORIES AND APPLICATIONS 51
5 AN ARRAY OF MORAL FOUNDATIONS 53
Your Intuitive Ethical Tendencies 53
Formal Ethical Concepts 55
Four Main Ethical Theories 57
Divine Command 58
Deontology 59
Utilitarianism 66
Virtue Ethics 70
The Least You Need to Know 73
6 A FEW OTHER ETHICAL THEORIES 75
Social Contract Theory 75
Feminist Ethics 76
Ethical Egoism 77
Existentialism 77
Justice and Rights-Based Approaches 78
Relativism/Subjectivism 78
The Least You Need to Know 83
7 THEORY APPLICATION TIME 85
Moral Decisions Based on Different Perspectives 86
Different Ethical Perspectives on This Situation 86
The Least You Need to Know 90
8 HOW THE MIND DULLS GOOD ETHICAL DECISION MAKING 91
Innate Biases 92
Knee-Jerk Responses 92
Meaning Making 94
Diagnostic Bias 96
Contents ix
Simplification 97
Confirmation Bias 97
Biased Assimilation 99
Belief Perseverance 100
Stories Versus Facts 100
Memory Problems 101
Believing You Are Right 102
False Pride 103
Anchoring and Conservatism 104
The Least You Need to Know 105
9 THE ALL IMPORTANT NEED FOR CRITICAL THINKING 107
Critical Thinking Principles and Processes 107
Arguments 108
Arguments as They Relate to the Ethics
of Addiction Counseling 111
Argument Types 112
Two Types of Arguments: Deduction and Induction 117
Moral Arguments 121
The Least You Need to Know 126
10 ETHICAL FALLACIES 129
Appeal to the People or Masses (Ad Populum) 129
Belonging to a Group 130
Red Herring 131
Two Wrongs Fallacy 132
The Straw Person 132
Character Assassination 133
Appeals to Authority 133
Mistaking People or Groups with Claims 135
The False Dilemma Appeal 135
The Believability of Bold Statements 135
If It Stands Out, It Has to Be the Reason 136
Overconfidence 136
Appeal to Ignorance 137
Begging the Question 138
The Least You Need to Know 139
11 ETHICAL THINKING: A SET OF PROCEDURES 141
The Spirit of Decision Making 141
The Addiction Ethics Judgment Kit 143
Case Study 145
x Contents
Criticism of Ethical Arguments 148
The Least You Need to Know 149
12 ADDICTION ETHICS PRINCIPLES WITH A CRITICAL
THINKING TWIST 151
Rights 152
Respect for Persons 153
Autonomy 154
Compassion 155
Confidentiality 156
Privacy 157
Truth Telling 158
Nonmaleficence 159
Beneficence 159
Justice 160
The Least You Need to Know 161
13 SOME PRACTICAL GUIDELINES 163
Common Ethical Violations 163
Boundary Issues 164
Addiction Counselors in Recovery 165
Limits of Professional Expertise (Scope of Practice) 166
The Ethics of Harm Reduction 167
Ethical Warning Signs 168
What Is the Best Judgment You Can Produce? 175
14 CAVEATS IN ETHICAL THINKING 177
Power 177
Obedience and Power 178
Arrogance 178
Last Warnings 179
The Least You Need to Know 179
Appendix 181
References 189
Index 195
Preface
This book idea grew out of a series of advanced ethics workshops I pres-
ently conduct for addiction counselors. To retain certification, counsel-
ors always need a certain number of continuing credit hours between
certification periods. Each certification period generally extends for
2 years. Out of the total hours required, 6 hours have to be in the area
of ethics.
Yet there is a little problem with the ethics requirement. Every
2 years, presenters are offered basically the same ethics workshop over
and over. After sitting through the same workshop a few times, partici-
pants desire something a little different. An idea occurred to me that
the addiction field could use something new and innovative to fill that
desire. The idea coincided with Springer Publishing Company’s offer to
publish my book, Critical Thinking for Addiction Professionals. It oc-
curred to me that one could combine ethics with critical thinking. This
way, participants could expand their ethics knowledge beyond the same
old set of dos and don’ts so often presented in traditional ethics work-
shops and books. The most intriguing possibly of such a combination
was to get an audience to seriously think about the complicated ethical
problems facing our field. The ultimate goal was to ponder addiction
ethics and to make it interesting and challenging. Hence, the advanced
ethics for substance abuse counselors workshop was born.
A pivotal goal of this workshop has been to make sure participants
leave the presentation with more questions than answers. Hopefully this
creates a thinking itch that needs to be scratched by forcing participants
to closely examine how and why they come to their ethical decisions
rather than mindlessly spouting ethical pronouncements minus the de-
liberation. This is an important purpose of both the workshop and this
book.
The first time I offered the workshop, it was surprisingly successful,
and the attendance has remained strong for the last few years. Between
each presentation, I tweak the workshop slightly. This is due to the
xi
xii Preface
spirited discussions of the workshop that force me to rethink a position,
and also to my constant reading. Both bring something fresh to each new
workshop presentation. In this manner, the workshops do not become
stale. The presentations have evolved and even include elements of phi-
losophy, which I personally think the addiction field could use.
The next logical step was to extend this workshop to a book. I hope
this volume captures the spirit and utility of the workshops and encour-
ages readers to think more fully about their own ethical decision-making
process.
Acknowledgments
Books rarely come about without the influence and advice of others.
Several people were instrumental in the creation of this one. First,
I wish to thank Jennifer Perillo at Springer Publishing Company for ap-
proaching me with an idea for a book. Second, I wish to thank Chris
Brown and Ralph Marsh from the Hawaii Alcohol and Drug Abuse Divi-
sion for initially allowing me to present the idea for an advanced ethics
workshop. I have appreciated the support throughout the years. Third,
I wish to thank the many participants of the workshop and my students.
Our sometimes spirited but thoughtful interactions pressed me to think
and to make improvements to the workshop, and the many suggestions
eventually ended up in this book.
xiii
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Advanced Ethics
for Addiction
Professionals
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The Foundation:
A Thinking Way PART
to Approach I
Addiction Ethics
